Musings from the Slush Pile

So, I just signed on for the Reading Challenge over on GoodReads. I’ve never tried to count the books I read in a year, but I saw the widget and thought, “Oh! For Cute!” So, there you are. It’s right over there–> LOL. I have a reader/writer identity crisis going on most days. If you ask me or anyone who knows me personally, we’ll tell you I’m a reader. I also happen to write. BUT If I  was held at gunpoint or off a skyscraper or faced with a poison apple, whatever and had to chose one or the other: read as much as I want, but never write another story OR write as much as I want, but never read another story…I’d kick you a little, but eventually I’d choose reading.  The stories I make up are specific to me and whether I wrote them or not, I could still entertain myself with them.

But without books….

I can’t imagine life without the endless opportunities they hold. A million authors with all those stories to tell. Books open the world beyond my imagination. Yeah, I’m sticking with books. I’d choose the books LOL.

Wether you use a widget or join GoodReads or hate GoodReads, or however you do it, I challenge you (my writing friends especially) to set a reading goal. Reading reduces stress, it provides an escape, it builds your vocabulary, challenges your mind….I could go on. Reading = Good. No matter how you slice it.

No time? How much television do you watch? A 300 page book takes about 5 hours of your life. Can you pass on one of your shows once a week to pick up a book? I don’t know. It’s up to you, but I’d trade my dinner for a book. I frequently trade my sleep for one. But that’s just me.

Now, specifically to the writers reading this: READ. You are off your nut if you think you can not read and still become a better writer. Business degree one-oh-one: Know your business. THIS is your business people. What’s selling? What’s hot? What are editors buying? (and yes before you all comment to say “what’s on shelves now was purchased up to 2 yrs ago” I KNOW. I got it. But it’s the point. You need to read what editors liked enough to take before their committee and vouch for. Know what’s out there before you write it and wonder why no one wants it. Der. <– that’s me making a dummy sound. I learned it from @Valeriebrbr who makes me laugh and she’s on twitter and seriously people GET ON TWITTER. *cough* #Bunnytrail

Reading also helps you see where there’s a need. Okay there are tons of zombie Apocalypse books, but do readers have one with a headstrong Valley Girl who turns it all around? There you go. Write THAT. You see what I’m saying? If you aren’t reading what exactly is your plan? I know I’ve talked to you about hive mentality, group think etc. You need to know what sells, what people love or hate and why, where the market is open and waiting and where it is bleeding from suicide attempts to escape another vampire book.

Final thought: Read. Whoever you are, whatever you do, add a book to your New Year’s Resolutions. Reading is a fantastic thing to do. For you. For your family. For your brain. If you are in need of a book and have a Kindle, download a free book. Hey, visit a library. Books are still free there too. While you’re there, kiss a librarian. I love those guys.

I Have “Writing.”

Do you have what I have too? Because I have the writing bug and it hit me out of the clear blue. From the day I decided I wanted to write, everything has changed. Until three years ago I had no idea the writing bug existed. If you’d told me I’d decide to be a novelist at the age of 33 with three kids and no time, sleep or qualifications, I’d have laughed at you. But that’s what happened. After reading my first book in years that wasn’t about parenting or homeschool, I fell into the zone where every time I put the book down I thought about it. At the end I wanted to do that too. I wanted to pull someone into my world for a little while. The story left me reeling with ideas and hopes I never knew anyone had. I thought writing was a career path like journalism where you started in high school or college or you didn’t start at all. Wrong-o.

I can remember the first day I dared google writing. Hours disappeared from under me. I called my husband marveling at the enormous sub culture of our population who also strived to be an author and chatted online about the industry, providing support, encouragement and answers. I was in heaven.

As a former psych major, I think this deserves a diagnosis and placement on the DSM-IV personality disorder scale. The more writers I meet, the more we are the same. We have the same thoughts, troubles and resolutions. It’s hive mentality worldwide. I love it! I am not alone! We share the same challenges, joys, trials and all. It’s like a global family of strangers, joined by one desire and everything that goes with it.

My obsession with publication has led me into all sorts of amazing relationships and situations. Some of my best memories have been made in the past two years at writers conferences and gatherings of the like. Many of my closest friends are ones I will never meet due to distance, time and financial constraints, but I see them everyday online and that’s enough. We’ve forged bonds geography cannot rend.

As far as affliction go, I’m happy with mine. Mostly because I know I’m in great company. xoxox

Rescue Me by Jennifer Johnson

I’m really happy to introduce you today to my new friend Genevieve Graham. She’s marvelous and smart and fun. She also knows her business – writing. She’s graciously agreed to come by today and tell us one of the ways she keeps readers turning pages. She likes to mix things up! Here’s Genevieve to tell you how.

Why I Mix Things Up A Bit:

In my Romance Times Review, (4/5 stars!) Kathe Robin said, “The shift between first-person to third-person narrative may be difficult for some readers to follow, but others will be completely engrossed as each story unfolds.”

It’s true that a novel usually follows one perspective or the other, and the norm is either First Person (narrator in the scene: I am, I see, etc) or Third Person (fly on the wall: he saw, he went, etc), but rarely both. In Under the Same Sky, I played with that a bit, alternating every few chapters between Maggie’s first person perspective and Andrew’s third person perspective.

Under the Same Sky was the first book I’d ever written, and I actually didn’t realize what I’d done at first. I wrote the way the words and scenes came to me. But once I was done, and I saw how the stories of Maggie and Andrew had been told differently, I never even considered changing the perspectives.

Why did I feel compelled to write the book in this unusual style? I guess it’s because

Under the Same Sky tells a story that exists on two levels. Andrew’s story is written completely in Third Person, because it was vital that the reader experience a larger picture, a panorama of settings and people. Andrew’s Scotland is a rugged, hard place, but a beautiful one as well. I needed to paint that picture as colourfully as I could. Maggie, too, lived in a rough but picturesque land, but because of her gifts, her story needed to be told from an internal source.

I’m willing to bet you have had at least one “psychic” experience, whether it’s knowing what another person is about to say, knowing the next song on the radio, or something like that. How can you explain what that feels like to someone else? The words have to come from within that person’s psyche. First Person narrative may be confusing at first, but the outcome draws the reader into a world the Third Person narrative can’t achieve.

To my way of thinking, First Person explores the mind, the heart, the emotions from within. Third Person opens up the rest of the world, setting scenes, providing the wider view, encompassing more characters and experiences than just what the narrator knows. I’m not saying this is how books should be written, but to me, considering the depth of the psychic communication happening between Maggie and Andrew, that was the way I felt it needed to be explored.

Before I forget …

You know what else Ms Robin said in her review? “Readers will wait with bated breath for the sequel.” I’m so glad she mentioned that. Sound of the Heart will be released in stores May 1, 2012, and is available for preorder online now!

A lot of critics don’t approve of books written in the First Person perspective. What do you think?

Under the Same Sky by Genevieve Graham

The year is 1746. A young woman from South Carolina and a Scottish Highlander share an intimacy and devotion beyond their understanding. They’ve known each other their entire lives. And yet they have never met…

Maggie Johnson has been gifted with “the Sight” ever since she was a child. Her dreams bring her visions of the future, and of a presence she knows is real. She calls him Wolf, and has seen him grow alongside her from a careless young boy into a fearsome warrior. And when her life is torn asunder by unspeakable tragedy, he is her only hope.

Andrew MacDonnell is entranced by the vision of a beautiful woman who has always dwelt in his dreams. When war ravages his land and all he has ever known, he leaves the Scottish Highlands on a perilous journey to the New World to find her, knowing that their only chance of survival is with one another…

Their quest to find each other across a treacherous wilderness will test the limits of courage and endurance, guided only by their dreams—and by the belief in the true love they share …

Reviews

A beautifully written, riveting novel.

–Madeline Hunter, New York Times bestselling author of “Dangerous in Diamonds”

Graham’s sweeping tale unfolds with the kind of luscious, unrushed prose that feels rapturously close to epic.

–Shana Abé, New York Times bestselling author of “The Time Weaver”

ROMANCE TIMES REVIEWS: ↔↔↔↔

About Genevieve:

Genevieve Graham graduated from the University of Toronto in 1986 with a Bachelor of Music in Performance (playing the oboe). While on a ski vacation in Alberta, she met her future husband in a chairlift lineup and subsequently moved to Calgary to be with him. They have recently settled in a small, peaceful town in Nova Scotia with their two beautiful daughters. Writing became an essential part of Genevieve’s life a few years ago, when she began to write her debut novel, Under the Same Sky.

CONNECT ONLINE

www.genevievegraham.com

www.facebook.com/GenevieveGrahamAuthor

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4505583.Genevieve_Graham

twitter.com/GenGrahamAuthor

Don’t miss Genevieve on January 5th at  http://www.escapewithdollycas.com/category/guest-posts/, talking about the “Mystery” behind her book!

Thanks again Genevieve!

Here we are! *blows tiny horn* We did it! 2011 is behind us and 2012 lay ahead filled with possibilities. This is very exciting to me as I am from the “ANYTHING is possible” state of mind. Maybe being an only child is the reason for my crazy self confidence (which transfers to everyone. I mean I can totally do it so why not every one else too?) Maybe it’s my faith. Maybe it’s the fact I’ve already seen so many people obtain the impossible. Whatever the reason, I want you to get smiley. You can do IT.

This is the time when we sit and make our resolutions. Many frown on this and I snort at them. I think that’s a hipster mentality. Making New Year’s Resolutions is a tradition. We’ve been doing it all our lives and it’s FUN. Remember fun?? Don’t get me started. ANYWAY!!!

I want to encourage you to put some writing resolutions in there with “save money” and “lose weight.” If you’re a writer, make this the year you embrace it! Here are some suggested writing resolutions:

2012 Writing Resolution…suggestions

1. Make the declaration. If you haven’t already, state it aloud “I’m a writer.” Promise to tell people the truth when they ask what you do. It’s okay to say “I was writing.” Stop pretending you were napping or cleaning. Writers never get to do those things.

2. Make time to write. If you have the opposite problem and say you’re a writer but can’t remember the last time you wrote anything *tsk tsk* Resolve to allow yourself an hour a week to write. That’s not much to ask. It’s the duration of one prime time show. One hour a week is NOT unattainable.

3. If you’ve been toiling with the same manuscript for too long, resolve to finish it in 2012. Don’t start a new one until this one is finished. Tell the other voices in your head their story will be told, but this one deserves your attention. Let me tell you, those other voices won’t disappear. They’ll be there. It’s okay to make notes about the concept to help you delve in later, then focus on the work that’s keeping you back from getting on with your career. Choose now before the unfinished story steals any more of your time: Finish it or drop it and walk away. Don’t let one story immobilize you.

4. Stop lurking. Are you a lookey-Lou? A lurky Sam? Knock it off! You’ll never make friends if no one knows you’re there. Leave comments on your favorite blogs. Talk to strangers on twitter. Strike up a conversation and keep doing it. You will be so much happier, less lonely and glad you did. I *promise*.

5. Get on twitter people! Serious. Get.On.Twitter. Email me if you need help but twitter is a writer’s paradise. Meet agent, editors, aspiring writers, your favorite authors, learn the scoop as it happens, find beta buddies and crit partners. GET ON TWITTER.

6. Submit! So many writers have a computer filled with manuscripts, short stories, poems, you name it….and they don’t submit them! What? Are you kidding me? *kicks you in the pants* Start submitting! You can’t keep those in a vault. We want to read them!!! Readers need new material. Do you know despite my own blog, social media addiction, home, hubsy, 3 kids and a myriad of other non-stop things, I down a novel every couple days? I NEED more awesome reads. Put yourself out there. Write “I will be brave” on that list of resolutions and do it!

7. Accept rejection as a war wound, battle scar, rite of passage and MOVE ON. Rejection is a part of the job. Like lack of sleep comes with a new baby or serious bruising comes with football. When you have something that matters to you, it will impact you. Take the blow, dust off your knickers and GET UP. Writers are tough so put the past where it belongs and put your eyes on the horizon, man.

8. Attend a writers event, book signing, conference, or other gathering of bookish peeps. It’s so refreshing to be surrounded by people that get you. Truly. WriteOnCon happens online every summer and is FREE. While it’s geared to writing for children through young adults, the advice and information given by agents and editors about the industry is invaluable. Definitely worth your time. Make a resolution to find a local conference or other event. Put it on your calendar. GO.

9. Tackle whatever other writing goal you’re putting off. Start a blog. Work on a web presence. Brand yourself. I know you have writer things you want to accomplish, make 2012 the year you do.

10. You’re a writer. Make that count this year. Your goals matter. Treat them that way. Until you do, no one else will. You can reach your goals, but every win starts with effort. Start a forward positive momentum now and resolve to keep it up. You are important. Your goals are too. If you need a cheerleader, let me know. You know where to find me.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!